Pastors and
teachers in the Church place a great deal of
emphasis on The Great Commission, but there is
very little exegetical detail offered on the
Scriptures that proclaim The Great Commission.
The Great Commission is directly addressed in
three Bible passages, and a study of these
passages of Scripture presents a different
emphasis than the traditional understanding of
these passages. The passages involved and a
brief interpretation are as follows: The Church (Mat 28:18-20 KJV) And Jesus came
and spake unto them, saying, All power is
given unto me in heaven and in earth. {19} Go
ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: {20} Teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world. Amen. The above
passage in Matthew pertains to the Church, but
Jesus is addressing his eleven disciples, and He
is giving them his final command before he
ascends into heaven. Jesus first tells his
disciples that all power in heaven and earth has
been given to him, and He then commissions them
to do something. The task that Jesus assigns
them is to “teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost. The Greek word for power means
ability, and the Greek word for “all” means all
kinds of. The Greek word for “nations” is ethnos and
means Gentiles. Thus, Jesus commissions his
eleven disciples to go forth and to make
disciples out of all kinds of Gentiles
throughout the earth. The Great Commission in this
passage clearly refers to the Church, and the
emphasis is clearly on teaching these Gentiles
to be obedient to the Word of God.
These Gentiles are to be baptized in the name
(i.e., power and authority) of the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit. The emphasis is clearly
on God’s Covenant of Works, yet the Church has
emphasized the Covenant of Grace. The Church’s
emphasis on Grace has caused God’s Covenant of
Works to be virtually ignored by the main body
of the Church. Consequently, the majority of the
Church is disobedient and knows very little
about the literal kingdom of heaven and the
difference between spirit and soul salvation.
The Church preaches the Gospel of Grace, but it
virtually ignores the Gospel of Christ, which
relates to the works that Christians “should”
perform for reward. The Jews The second
passage of Scripture on The Great Commission
does not even pertain to the Church, the Gospel
of Grace or the Gospel of Christ. The following
passage of Scripture pertains to the Gospel of
the kingdom that was preached for 40 years
beginning with the ministry of Jesus and ending
with the Diaspora in 70 A.D. when Jerusalem was
destroyed, along with the Jewish Temple. Please
read the following Scripture carefully, and
especially verse 20, which confirms that this
Gospel had already been preached to the “world”
at the time that this epistle had been written.
The Greek word for “world” is kosmos and
it refers to elect Jews at the time of Christ.
(Mark 16:14-20 KJV) Afterward he
appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat,
and upbraided them with their unbelief and
hardness of heart, because they believed not
them which had seen him after he was risen.
{15} And he said unto them, Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every
creature. {16} He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned. {17) And these signs
shall follow them that believe; In my name
shall they cast out devils; they shall speak
with new tongues; {18} They shall take up
serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing,
it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands
on the sick, and they shall recover. {19} So
then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he
was received up into heaven, and sat on the
right hand of God. {20} And they went forth,
and preached every where, the Lord working
with them, and confirming the word with signs
following. Amen. Verses 17 and
18 above confirm that the gospel that was
preached to elect Jews was the gospel of the
kingdom, since signs accompanied the preaching
of this gospel.The GentilesThe following
Scripture passage is the third one on The Great
Commission, and it prophetically pertains to the
Gentiles who will be saved during the great
tribulation after the entire Church is in heaven
around the throne of God. The context of this
message is Luke 24:13-43 where Jesus was talking
to two witnesses on the road to Emmaus.
Prophetically, these are God’s two witnesses,
but they do not recognize Jesus until the end of
their journey on the third day. The Church Age
is two days (i.e., 2000 years) long, and these
two recognize Jesus on the third day, which is
the last half of the seven-year tribulation
period. The identity of Jesus is withheld from
these two witnesses until the third day, and
then they are to be witnesses of Jesus to all
Gentiles beginning at Jerusalem. But they are to
tarry (i.e., wait) in Jerusalem until they are
endowed with power. Prophetically, this is a
message about the two witnesses—Enoch and
Elijah—who are currently tarrying in the New
Jerusalem, but will be endowed with power and
will begin their 3-1/2 year ministry in
Jerusalem. They will be witnesses to the
Gentiles (i.e., ethnos) during the last half of
the tribulation period. The 144,000 Jewish
Firstfruits will be witnesses to the Gentiles
with them. (Luke 24:44-49 KJV) And he said
unto them, These are the words which I spake
unto you, while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled, which were written
in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and
in the psalms, concerning me. {45} Then opened
he their understanding, that they might
understand the scriptures, {46} And said unto
them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved
Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead
the third day: {47} And that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his
name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem. {48} And ye are witnesses of these
things. {49} And, behold, I send the promise
of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the
city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with
power from on high.The above part
of The Great Commission pertains to Gentiles
during the last half of the seven-year
tribulation period. In summary, the three
passages on The Great Commission pertain to
God’s three elect peoples. These elect groups of
people are Jews outside of the Church Age,
Gentiles outside of the Church Age and the
Church itself. The Church is made up of both Jew
and Gentile, but there are elect Jews that will
not be part of the Church and elect Gentiles
that will not be part of the Church.The Gospel of
the kingdom has already been preached to the
Jewish nation, and it shall be preached to all
kinds of Gentiles during the last half of the
seven-year tribulation. The Word of the kingdom
is currently being preached to the Church. The
primary difference between the Gospel of the
kingdom and the Word of the kingdom is the
miracles or signs that accompany the Gospel of
the kingdom, with the kingdom also being “at
hand”. The sign gifts of speaking in tongues and
miraculous healing are not with us currently
during the Church Age, and the literal,
corporeal kingdom of heaven is not “at hand”
presently. The kingdom of heaven is literal and
future.